Preetipls’ videos make us laugh and rethink our lives

She is known for her satirical videos and parodies of viral events in Singapore. Apart from those, she also raps, which has proven to be pretty popular.

Local social media personality Preetipls, whose real name is Preeti Nair, first shot to fame with her parody of Toggle’s ‘Fashion Police’ video two years ago. Today, Preeti has greatly evolved from the social media figure she was back in 2016.

On top of creating funny videos for her Instagram and YouTube accounts, she now holds a part-time job as a radio DJ at 987FM. Earlier this year, Preeti even battled against Singapore’s veteran comedian, Kumar, on a stand-up comedy show.

Behind the humour and satire, however, Preeti is a keen advocate of using social media responsibly. At the closing debate of the Singapore Writers Festival yesterday, she debated on the pros and cons of social media usage among Singaporeans.

When Youth.SG met her at a café in her neighbourhood on Oct 26, the 24-year-old greeted us with a bright smile.

During our hour-long interview, Preeti was bubbly and often peppered her responses with laughter.

What’s the story behind her sassy online persona, ‘Preetipls’?

The cheery comedian sipped on her glass of iced water before sharing her story: “People usually don’t speak up unless it affects them personally and I thought that I’m not going to wait till it offends me personally to do something.”

That thought sparked the start of her social media journey, where she uses humour to address serious issues such as racism and stereotypes.

After the unexpected success of her ‘Fashion Polis’ video in 2016, she found herself working on more videos and parodies. But what sets her apart from other content creators are her inaccurately translated Mandarin subtitles.

“Everybody thinks I pay someone to do my subtitles but it’s all me, all off the top of my head.

“I’ve studied this for so long, I might as well put it to good use,” chuckled Preeti, who took Mandarin as her second language in school.

Preeti, who has over 17,000 followers on Instagram, also credited her rise to fame to the unexpected nature of her content.

“My content may seem to be randomly uploaded but that’s because I never had a regular content schedule. That’s why there’s still that element of surprise and it has always been like that.

“If an idea comes to my head, I’ll just find some time to do it and make it happen,” chirped Preeti excitedly, as she explained her creative process.

As her social media following grew, Preeti started to receive more supportive comments from her fans. But she has had her fair share of haters too.

When Preeti released her debut single, ‘Thicc’, last month, she received some body shaming comments on her Instagram account and YouTube channel.

However, she chooses to take things in her own stride.

“Now, I would joke about it, screenshot it and say something funny on my Instagram story. I just take everything with a pinch of salt.”

She also felt thankful for her fans, whom she spoke about endearingly. When her dog, Mini, passed away in May, her Instagram inbox was flooded with heartfelt messages from her fans.

“My followers are such a huge part of my life, it’s just so sweet that they took time to send me some nice words and be kind.

“They don’t just watch and laugh, they actually feel an emotional connection,” said Preeti.

With the recent success of ‘Thicc’, can we expect more singles from Preeti?

With a cheeky grin, Preeti said: “Music is actually an endeavour I want to venture into. I want to drop a five-song EP and call it ‘Singapore’s Top Album’.

“Even if I do music, it will still be comedy. Comedy is always my thing. Comedy will always be first,” said Preeti.